The midfield that season was basically, also because of the Rosicky injury, made up of only 18-22 year olds until Arshavin was signed.
Whilst I think Nasri was a (very) good player Hleb f.e. made a lot more difference for the actual play. It was just really bad indeed.
The big boot to John Terry was his biggest service to English football, for that alone he deserves some sort of recognition, whether it be a statue outside Fa headquarters or a national honour
I love Tim Stillman.
Think Diaby is one of those players who Arsenal fans seem to enjoy romanticising about. He was a hugely inconsistent player who could produce a dominant midfield performance one week then subsequently go missing for many games on end.
Good player, think he definitely could have had a better career but some people genuinely talk about him like he was on the cusp of greatness when the reality was he probably wasn’t ever going to get a lot better than what we saw of him.
You’re talking about a very select cohort in fairness.
People go mad on twitter and stuff, but if Flamini decides to stay around and not bitch about the lack of minutes in his earlier Arsenal career those three guys maybe only play half of their eventual career minutes 
.
As a certified Abouista I can safely say we are a massive minority. Most people I’ve come across think he was a total waste of space.
Apart from that one Liverpool game where he partnered Santi that’s pretty much how I’d sum him up.
Diaby was Ramsey dialled up in terms of patchy form, and Ramsey’s form on that front is unbearable.
It’s impossible to say how good he could have been as he suffered a tragic injury so early in his career, at that time he was an elite player for his age.
All the best in retirement Abou, shame football so little of you on field as it did.
Mate some things he’d pull off were utterly outrageous. There were snippets of a unique raw talent there, but frustratingly that quality seemed stupidly difficult to harness. Never helped himself with how many brainless mistakes he’d make… the own goal at Old Trafford was one of the more moronic ones I’ve seen.
It was weird with him because he’d turn a corner and get into beastly form but proceed to fuck it up outta nowhere. He was still young during those inconsistent spells though so who knows what a few more years of regular football could have led to.
For me it’s abundantly clear just on a qualitative level that he had insane potential. What a waste.
Will always remember that Anfield performance. Vieira-esque.
Actually Diaby got quite some playing time during the 07-08, 08-09 and 09-10 seasons.
Got robbed big time there.
He’d already suffered a horrific injury prior to that period though.
Yeah he played roughly 120-125 games for Arsenal between 2007 and 2010 from the age of 21-24/25. That’s more than enough time.
I am no big advocate of Diaby being bonafide world class or something but this is also looking at it too simplistically.
Most of his appearances are sporadic and filled with substitute appearances mostly to regain match fitness & game rhythm.
The one season we got a consistent game time out of him was 09/10 and he was more than adequate.
A player’s career is more than just talent, so no guarantee that Diaby would have been great if not for injuries.
At the same time, sample size of one season is not enough to tell what a player can do.
So many late developers out there.
Diaby’s sprained ballsack has more dynamism than our current lot